Hunt attacks Starmer for ‘fake news’ as Chancellor hints another National Insurance tax cut – UK politics live
The Chancellor has released a 19-page report accusing the Labour party of digging a £38 billion black hole with Starmer’s campaign pledges
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Your support makes all the difference.Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled new tax cuts if the Conservatives win the general election as he accuses Labour of “playground politics” following Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on Thursday.
Speaking from London, he hinted at further National Insurance cuts before the general election kicks off after Summer.
He claimed Labour’s electoral pledges would cost tax payers £59 billion over the next four years and accused Labour of “lying” and labelled “fake news” their economic plans.
He has also pledged “taxes will go down under a Conservative government” and accused Sir Keir Starmer of planning to hikes as “sure as night follows day”.
Meanwhile, David Lammy has launched Labour’s foreign policy campaign pledge as he vowed voters to reinstall trust between the UK and the EU amid security threats.
He added the country is currently facing key challenges around war and security, over-dependency with unfriendly states, and low growth around West.
In full: Jeremy Hunt launches Tory fightback over Labour’s ‘disgraceful, fake news, lie’
Jeremy Hunt accused Labour of telling “a lie” about Tory tax plans as he launched his party’s fightback in a week where the starting gun on the election campaign was fired.
In an unusually fiery speech by the chancellor, he claimed Labour’s attempts to scare voters about the future of the state pension was “disgraceful”.
He also alleged that “the most conservative estimate” of Keir Starmer’s spending plans would cost £38.5billion and means “Labour will have no choice but to put up taxes further” to fill a £10billion black hole in government finances by 2028/29.
Mr Hunt acknowledged that “difficult decisions” needed because of the global financial shocks of the covid pandemic and war in Ukraine had meant he had been forced to increase taxes.
However, he insisted that the election “will be framed about what the parties want to do about the tax burden.”
Watch: Moment Jeremy Hunt accuses Labour of spreading ‘fake news'
Jeremy Hunt accuses Labour of spreading ‘fake news’ to win election
Jeremy Hunt accused Labour of spreading "fake news" to try and win the general election with claims about his economic plans. Speaking in London on Friday, 17 May, the chancellor hit out at Labour's judgement that scrapping national insurance would mean a £46bn funding gap, and lead to higher taxes on pensioners, telling the audience: “I don’t make any bones about it. It is fake news and it is an absolute disgrace to try and win this election by scaring pensioners about a policy that is not true.” Announcing that further tax cuts would be implemented in the autumn, Mr Hunt criticised Keir Starmer for promising “motherhood and apple pie” following his speech on Thursday.
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Diane Abbott says not being readmitted into party was Starmer’s decision
The suspended MP for Hackney has opened up about the reason she hasn’t been readmitted into the Labour Party.
Ms Abbott was suspended after suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.
Sir Keir Starmer has been hit by backlash after he welcomed former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke but not Ms Abbott.
Labour pokes fun at Jeremy Hunt
The official account of the Labour Party has shared an edited picture on social media mocking his backdrop.
The party has jokingly changed the original “Labour’s Tax Rises” with “£870 Worse Off”.
It is a reference of Labour’s accusations that the Tories will leave families £870 a year worse off by the end of the decade.
Tory peer banned from Lords bars for ‘bullying and harassment'
Conservative peer Kulveer Ranger has been accused of bullying and harassing two people while drunk in Parliament’s Strangers’ Bar in January.
Following an investigation, the House of Lords Conduct Committee have suspended him from the House for three weeks.
Lord Ranger has apologised, saying he was “deeply mortified at the descriptions of my behaviour” and “saddened to hear that I caused you any distress”.
Labour MP David Lammy is giving a speech
The Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs is setting out Labour’s foreign policy pledge.
Speaking from the Institute for Government, he is hitting at the Conservatives’ Foreign Office.
He says: “We need serious technology experts. If we want to understand China we need Chinese experts.”
'Conservatives vs Labour election’
Following Jeremy Hunt’s speech, the Tories have shared on social media a poster accusing Labour of digging a billion-worth blackhole.
The post confirms the election will be framed around accusations between the two main parties.
Lib Dems weight in
The Liberal Democrats have also hit back at Jeremy Hunt.
Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney claims the Chancellor’s analysis puts 6.5 million Brits in a higher tax band.
She adds: “Jeremy Hunt owes an apology to the millions of hardworking Brits who will be forced to pay more tax as a result of his swindling budgets.
“The Conservative party is trying to take the British public for fools with this shameless attempt to erase Liz Truss’s botched budget and their unfair tax hikes.
“Voters across the country and in his marginal Surrey constituency will see right through this. Jeremy Hunt cannot defend his record of soaring mortgages, rocketing food prices and crippling tax rises.”
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